


Incompletely Complete

by by_heart



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 00:48:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9296933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/by_heart/pseuds/by_heart
Summary: Lena learns she and Kara have adoption in common, and Lena finds comfort in knowing someone understands that part of her life.





	

“You okay? You’ve seemed a little distracted today.” Kara rested her notepad in her lap as she looked across the desk at Lena, her posture tired. 

She shook her head as if to shake herself out of a daze and set her pen down before rising and walking toward the bar for a bottle of water. “It’s nothing. I’m just… having a day,” she gestured blankly. She cracked the seal on the bottle of water as she headed over to the couch. “I’m sorry. Can we maybe finish the interview tomorrow?” She dropped down onto the couch and took a sip.

Tucking her notepad into her purse, she nodded. “Of course.” Kara stood from her chair in front of Lena’s desk and picked up her bag, turning toward the door. She stopped before she made it there though. “Do you…” she hesitated, not sure if she was about to overstep an invisible boundary; she and Lena had been on a first name basis for a few weeks, but Kara had never seen her like this. She suspected not many people ever had. “Would you like to talk about it?” she offered gently. 

When Lena looked at her, Kara felt as though she was being pulled by a magnetic force. She took a few steps closer to the couch. She wasn’t sure that Lena would admit that she wanted to talk about whatever was on her mind. But looking into her eyes, she felt like she might just talk about it if Kara were to simply stay close enough to listen. 

Lena pursed her lips and looked down at the floor, shaking her head slightly. “I, um….” When she looked up again, Kara was inches away from the couch, still looking at her for some sort of confirmation whether she should stay or go. “It’s just that today is….” Lena wanted to tell Kara to stay. She just didn’t know how. She was taught to keep her emotions to herself, so as not to look weak. Even though she believed showing emotions didn’t make one weak, it was hard to convince herself to share hers when a lifetime habit nagged at her to bottle it up. 

She felt so stuck. She wanted Kara to stay but couldn’t bring herself to say so. And she wanted to talk to Kara, to confide in her, because although they hadn’t known each other long, she somehow felt safe with Kara. But she couldn’t get those words out any better. So she sat quietly, staring at the floor, wishing something in her would summon up the courage to actually be vulnerable with another human being. 

Suddenly there was a slight movement on the couch next to her and she glanced over to see Kara sitting down, reaching into her purse for something. She laughed when a small package of Red Vines slowly appeared in front of her nose. 

Kara smiled. “The Danvers sisters process emotions with processed food.” She opened the package and held it out for Lena once again. “I’d offer you a donut, but my sister recently realized she’s gay and…. Well, there are no longer donuts.”

Lena chuckled and took a piece of candy, finally sitting back and resting into the couch. Kara pulled one from the package for herself and mirrored Lena’s posture. Both took a bite of their candy and just sat in silence for a minute. “Give it a few weeks; the donut thief will be okay soon enough.”

“That how long it took you?” Kara asked. 

Lena shrugged. “I didn’t really have many people to come out to, so the anxiety wore off pretty fast.” Relaxing a little more, she turned her body on the couch so she was facing Kara, her arm propped up on the back of the couch, her feet tucked to the side. “And it wasn’t like I ever really showed much interest in dating boys, so eventually people just assumed.” She sipped her water again. “The only person I really wanted to talk to about it was Lex. And I knew he would be supportive, so I didn’t really have much to be afraid of.” She bit off another piece of candy, then gestured with it in her hand while she talked. “Until the first time a girl invited me back to her place.” She chuckled fondly at the memory. “Lex even let me talk his ear off about that. He said he would be a girl I could gossip with about...” she air quoted “”kissing” girls one time only and to choose my words carefully.”

Kara grinned. “He sounds wonderful.” 

Lena’s face fell, remembering all too sharply who he had become and where he was as a result of that. “He was. He really was.”

Lena didn’t speak again for several minutes, her eyes low as she absently ate her candy and reached for the package to take another one. 

And Kara waited patiently. She got up to grab a bottle of water from the bar - she had been instructed to please help herself weeks ago - and settled in comfortably when she joined Lena on the couch again. 

Eventually, Lena looked up to meet Kara’s eyes again. “Today’s the anniversary of the day my adoption was finalized. The day I legally became a Luthor.” Her eyes were sad but she searched her memories anyway. “For the whole month, Lex proudly told everyone we met that I was his sister. And I felt so lucky to have a family that loved me that much.” Her eyes began to water and she fought the urge to blink and let a tear roll down her cheek. 

“It’s okay to miss him,” Kara pointed out softly. “It’s okay for today to be hard. He might not be the person he was all those years ago, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be happy about those memories. Or sad about not having that relationship with him anymore.” She waited for Lena to look up again. “However you’re feeling is okay. Adoption is complicated; you have to lose something in order to gain something else.”

Lena studied Kara as she spoke. 

“I was adopted too,” she answered the question Lena hadn’t yet asked. “Fifteen years ago tomorrow.”

Eyes wide, Lena’s face wasn’t quite so sad anymore. “You really do get it then.”

“I do,” Kara nodded. “Losing my parents was the worst thing that ever happened to me. But then being adopted by such a wonderful family afterward was one of the greatest. I can’t imagine my life without my sister; she’s my best friend. I didn’t have siblings before. But sometimes I remember what happened that made me wind up needing a new family and I feel a little guilty about how glad I am to have Alex.” Lena focusing so closely on her made the thoughts even more intense and she could feel her eyes beginning to fill with tears. She cleared her throat. “Like I said, however you feel about today is okay. Something my family taught me a long time ago.”

Lena smiled and reached out to wrap her hand around Kara’s for a moment, giving a gentle squeeze, then letting go again. Kara met her eyes and smiled. 

“Do you have any other plans for today?”

Kara raised an eyebrow at her, questioning, and responded with a curious - but approving - tone. “No….”

“Would you like to have lunch with me? Maybe order in, tell me more about your family?” The look on Kara’s face made her heart speed up with very contagious excitement. 

“On one condition.” Lena gave her a look that said I’m nervous, but willing, so Kara continued. “I want to hear more about your brother. Not the Lex that the whole world knows about, I mean your real brother who loved you so much he was willing to talk about your younger exploits in romance.”

Lena chuckled and felt her eyes start to water again just a little, but it was a more pleasant feeling this time. “Deal.” She stood and walked to her desk, reaching for the phone. “Any requests for lunch?”

“I literally love all food.”

She grinned and pressed a button on the phone to connect her to her assistant. “Jess, can you hold my calls and grab the menu for the Chinese place down the street, please? Miss Danvers and I are going to stay in for lunch today.”


End file.
